The man appeared to be stretching against a tetherball pole, but when the 9-year-old girl walked within six feet of him, he lunged toward her, police said.

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The girl immediately ran away, and when she looked back she saw the man running through the campus toward Bonita Avenue. She told her teacher, who contacted police.

Police and school officials were put on high alert Thursday after a man loitering on the Bubb Elementary School campus in Mountain View lunged at a 9-year-old girl.

The girl was walking back to her classroom after using the restroom shortly before 8:45 a.m. when she spotted the suspect, according to police.

The man appeared to be stretching against a tetherball pole, but when the girl walked within six feet of him, he lunged toward her, police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said.

The girl immediately ran away, and when she looked back she saw the man running through the campus toward Bonita Avenue. She told her teacher, who contacted police.

An extensive search of the area was conducted, but the man could not be located.

The Mountain View Whisman School District notified parents, and instituted a buddy system for any student who needed to leave a classroom. Police provided an extra security presence on campuses, as Thursday was a minimum day when schools let out early.

The suspect is described as a heavyset white man in his 50s with gray hair. He was wearing a navy blue polo and gray jeans.

Parents and community members are being asked to keep an eye out for this man or any other suspicious people loitering near schools or other places where children congregate, Wylie said.

Anyone who sees a man matching this description, or who is told about a suspicious incident by a child, should contact police at (650) 903-6344.